Deadly Horse Meat

Horses are a common sight in Kulaman Plateau. In a primarily agricultural town with inadequately developed farm-to-market roads, farmers often rely on horses to transport produce.

In April this year, seven people died and more than a hundred got sick in Kulaman Plateau due to eating probably contaminated horse meat. I learned the news soon after it came out in several websites, but I was only able to read more about it recently. As far as my research is concerned, the case remains a mystery as of this writing.

From reading the news articles about the case, I discovered some interesting things, both directly and indirectly related to the case. First is that the lede, or introductory paragraph, of most of the articles is confusing. It’s not clear from them what occurred on Wednesday, April 2, 2014—the deaths or the consumption of horse meat. Based on several online sources, let me narrate what happened in chronological order and identify for you which of the facts are established:

April 2
Sixteen residents of Sitio Parreño, Barangay Tinalon, were rushed to the municipal hospital of Senator Ninoy Aquino (SNA). They showed “symptoms of food poisoning”: severe headache, vomiting, stomach pain, diarrhea. They had eaten horse meat. The meat was “double dead,” which means that the animals were already dead when they were butchered.

It’s not clear how many horses died and were eaten; one report states that there were four dead horses, another states five, and others state “several.” It’s not also clear when exactly the victims consumed the meat—possibly on April 2 or the day before.

Because the municipal hospital “lacked nurses, oxygen and medicine” (with which I’m not surprised), the sixteen patients were transferred to the provincial hospital, in the municipality of Isulan.

April 3
Sources from the provincial hospital told Mindanews that five victims had died. It’s not clear if all the victims died in the provincial hospital or some of them died in SNA.

April 4
According to the Philippine Star, sources from SNA told Bombo Radyo that four had died. The report states the names of the victims, but it’s not clear if all the victims died in the provincial hospital or some of them died in SNA.

April 6
According to ABS-CBN, sources from the provincial agriculture office told Philippine Star that “at least 70 more” residents of Brgy. Tinalon got sick, bringing the total number of victims to more than a hundred. The report states that four of the victims has died. The report also states that the veterinarians “expressed belief the horse’s meat might have been infected with a viral disease.” This was the first instance that a possible viral infection came into the picture.

May 14
Interaksyon reported that the regional health office had sent blood samples of the victims to laboratories in the US and Japan to help determine what caused their deaths. The report states that seven people died.

So what was the real cause of the tragedy? As mentioned earlier, the mystery has not been resolved. Next Monday, I’ll share with you some of my thoughts on the issue. I’m doubtful about the viral infection angle, but I don’t have enough knowledge on medicine, so what I have to say about that matter isn’t significant. But I believe I have some interesting things to say about the practice of eating horse meat here in Kulaman Plateau. Hint: No, I am not against killing horses.

Interaksyon, the companion website of TV5, posted an erroneous map. The map is that of Sultan Kudarat town, Maguindanao Province. The horse meat poisoning happened here in Senator Ninoy Aquino town, Sultan Kudarat Province.